Page 81 of Soul Redeemed

Xander snickered from behind, as each passed through the open door. The stairwell had deposited them into another hallway, like the first, but older and in decay. White and brown patches on the wall marked the wear of water leaks and time. Rusted pipes lined the top of the passage, and the damp stench of mold mingled with rot and decay, telling them they were close.

“Why’d you flash us a level above?” Calix asked.

“I was going for an element of surprise. There are other demons here. I sense them, but I’ve no idea where they are.”

“Sang?”

She shook her head and shrugged. “I don’t know. Perhaps something else. Something more violent.”

Rounding a corner brought a male into view, lying slumped against the wall, holding his arm. To the left of the male, stood a door, just like all the other doors lining the corridor.

As the first to approach, Logan crouched beside the male, examining him. “I remember you,” he growled. “Came into the casino. Looking for Calla.”

A chuckle escaped the human as he adjusted his thick black-framed glasses. “Yes. Yet another demon … who fucked with my work.” A dewy shine glistened off his skin over the white pallor beneath. Clumps of clotted blood and a gray-tinged fluid oozed between his fingers that gripped his arm. Infected, based on the sour smell he gave off.

“There was a baby brought here. Where the fuck is she?” Logan rested his knuckles against the wall beside the male and leaned into his face. “And if you lie to me, I’ll rip every one of your fucking limbs off.”

A burst of maniacal laughter from the male struck Calix’s last nerve, and tested his patience, and his urgency to find Ava overrode his usual level-headedness. Knocking his brother out of the way, Calix slammed a fist into the male’s cheek, cracking his bone on impact.

A wail of agony echoed down the hallway, cut short when Calix throttled the male’s neck.

“Where the fuck are they?” He could feel Logan’s eyes on him, no doubt trying to assess if he’d lost his mind.

“I’s qui’ beau’ful,” he slurred. “Look. In th’window.” Eyes closed, he jerked his chin toward the door behind the demons.

Calix and Logan shot to their feet and swung around toward the iron door. The small window in the center of it gave a narrow view of the dark room within.

Bat-like creatures crowded around a large brown object on the floor that appeared to be some kind of cocoon, though all their fuss made it hard to see. They hissed and danced, slamming their fangs into it, knocking it with their wings. One jumped atop of it and seemed to gnaw at its surface.

Without a beat of hesitation, Logan kicked at the door.

It didn’t budge.

Calix added his boot, and still the door remained on its hinges.

The laughter from behind innervated Calix’s spine.

“Diablis steel. The whole damn thing is lined with it. My own special design. Keeps them from flashing. Also keeps the supes out.”

Logan spun around and drilled another pop to the male’s face. “Except Wraths, fuck-face.”

When he twisted back toward the door, both demons put their full weight into the kick, knocking it right out of the frame.

The clamor ruffled the Sang enough that they hissed and took flight inside the cell.

Calix nabbed hold of a leg of one, yanking it toward him, and as the Sang snapped its fangs at him, he hammered his fist in its skull. Once in his grasp, the creature’s fangs pierced his skin, exacerbating Calix’s fury, and he reached for the dagger at his hip, the upward swing of his arm jabbing the blade into its skull, and with a quick swipe, he detached the head, spilling clear ichor onto the cement.

Beside him, Logan pounded his fist into the other Sang’s face, crumpling it with each forceful blow.

Xander had the third pinned to the wall, where he sliced long cuts into its flesh, until the body of the creature slithered to the floor, and Xander stood clutching the head.

A loud crack ended the commotion, when the Sang’s brain matter spattered across the floor, and Logan slid his Glock back into its holster.

At a roar behind them, they spun their attention toward the doorway—and the gorilla-faced beast blocking the empty frame. It charged toward Logan, but at Xander’s intercepting fist, the demon flew backward, slamming into the floor.

“I got this one!” Xander shouted, scrambling atop the demon. “C’mon, shithead.”

“Where the fuck is she!” Logan’s thunderous voice boomed over the grunting and thud of fists hitting flesh, as Xander fought the demon.